Gifted to Lead Session 3 & 4

In session three Nancy Ortberg spoke about “Creating a Rhythm of Life”. Her key question was:

What can you do to create a rhythm in your life that renews the life of God in you?

In this question she is referring to both how we are connecting with and growing in Christ as well as how we are arranging the busyness of our lives to focus on developing our giftedness as well as creating the space for the things that keep us sane.

As part of the session we heard from several different women in different stages and seasons of life. Very inspiring!

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In session 4 Nancy Beach talked about “Leaning into Your Tribe”.

Here she is talking about the power of the women around you. The women who support you, the women who mentor you, the women you mentor, etc.

But here’s the statement that haunts me… and this comes from her book Gifted to Lead (which was just released by the way and yes, you should get it.)

Women leaders who are not at peace with their identities or confident in the choices they have made, can doubt themselves to the point that they tear down others in an effort to boost their own worth.

We as women tend to be our own worst enemies. We sabotage one another because of things like constant comparison, jealousy, envy and coveting. This hit me hard today because it could possibly be the greatest challenge for me in living out this gifting that God has given me.

In closing, Nancy B. left us with a couple key thoughts:

You just don’t know the ripple effects of what you are doing. Don’t take for granted that someone is watching you.

Thanks Jenni for posting this, and for your comment on my blog. I wish I could have joined you all as well.

I am praying for my staff member who is attending there right now (and will be there for the rest of the Summit) and for the thousands of other women leaders (which is so much just a drop in the bucket) who will be wrestling with the excellent questions posed by Beach and Ortberg.

I think that I am….but I think it is also more recent. I totally understand the whole tear down part. While I don’t think I tried to tear others down, for some time I think I was truly insecure as a leader and simply wondered if I was right to do it. Over the last year or so I think my confidence of who God made me has grown and I feel more capable.

Great quote Jenni. I have seen “insecurity” in both men and women leaders completely destroy their ability to lead. At the very least, it will create a ceiling in their leadership that will never allow them to grow and develop and will always hinder the growth of the organization they lead.

The bottom line is that we all need to be confident in the God given leadership we have and celebrate those same gifts in the people around us.

To answer your question I will first quote the Bible from Daniel and Andy Stanley from Catalyst ’06: “God is Sovereign over the kingdoms of men and he gives them to whoever he chooses, even the lowliest of men.” – I feel I am being as responsible with the calling God has given me in the limited leadership role he has me in at this time. There have been times where I have questioned “did I make the right decision to end up where I am at?” But I always come back to this statement from Daniel and realize I am where I am because God has put me here and he apparently has a plan and a purpose for me being there. So knowing what God has called me to and knowing where he has me, I simply have to ask, “God what do you want to teach me and how do you want to use me where I am?” – I hope that is being responsible!

I used to allow insecurities to hold me back because I had a leader that tore me down, I later found that was because he had his own insecurities, but the quote from Daniel above freed me from not only the personal opinions of others, but my own personal opinion of myself. I came to realize it is not of anyone’s doing & not of my own doing, but of God’s doing that I am the leader that I am. I know now that the life of Christ that lives within me, gives me the power to accomplish anything, and he gives me other leaders to help development and challenge me, but ultimately it is Him who empowers me. What can’t God do?